บททั้งหมดของ ALPHA ACADEMY:MARKED BY FOUR: บทที่ 1 - บทที่ 10

I woke up to the sound of bells.Not the sharp kind that jolts you awake, but low and heavy, as though they’d been rung underwater. The sound rolled through the stone walls, vibrating faintly in my chest.The morning light crept weakly through my window, muted and gray, while a faint mist outside blurred the trees into shadowy outlines. My body felt heavy, like I’d been pinned down by strange dreams I couldn’t quite remember.I sat up, rubbing sleep from my eyes.“New day,” I whispered to myself, voice cracking a little. “Just a school. Just classes.”If I kept saying it, maybe I’d start believing it.***The main hall smelled of wax and damp stone, the kind of cold scent that clung to the back of your throat. Candles lined the walls in tall iron holders, dripping slowly, their flames bending as though someone was breathing over them.Students moved in groups, their footsteps echoing across the floor. I felt every glance flicked my way. Not long enough to be polite, not long enough to

The whispers didn’t die. By the next day, they were louder, hungrier, like a fire licking higher every time I walked past. Every corner I turned, voices broke off into silence, eyes cutting into me like knives. I was a rumor now, walking proof of something none of them wanted to name. Legacy. Power. Wrong. The words tangled in the air, unspoken but sharp. I clutched my books tighter, kept my eyes on the ground, tried to breathe past the weight pressing down. “You know,” a smooth voice cut through, “the more you hunch like that, the more they’ll eat you alive.” I stopped dead. Cassian leaned lazily against the stone archway leading out of the hall, golden hair catching the lantern light, grin sharp enough to slice. He flicked a coin between his fingers like he had all the time in the world. I tightened my grip on my books. “What do you want?” “Want?” He pushed off the wall, falling into step beside me with too much ease. “Sweetheart, if I wanted anything, you’d already know. I

The bell tolled at midnight.Once.Twice.Then silence.I woke with a start, every muscle locked tight. The air in my room was colder than it should have been, the kind of cold that seeped into bone, pulling goosebumps across my skin.The Red Moon.I didn’t have to look outside to know it hung above the Academy again. I could feel it—like the weight of unseen eyes pressing down through the roof.The whispers began next. Not from the hall, not from the other dorms—but from inside the walls. Soft. Layered. Dozens of voices, whispering in a tongue I didn’t understand.My heart pounded.This wasn’t a dream.I pushed the blanket aside, my bare feet meeting the chill of the floor. The glass I’d swept from the window days ago still glimmered faintly in the moonlight. My hands twitched, remembering how the wolves had once frozen under a single word from me.Not again, I told myself. Not tonight.But something was different. The air vibrated—alive, dangerous. I could almost taste it.When I fi

The next morning, Blackthorne looked almost peaceful. Sunlight spilled weakly through the mist, painting the courtyard in pale gold—almost enough to make the night before feel like a fever dream. Almost. Lyra pulled her cloak tighter as she crossed toward the main hall. The fountain had been cleared—what was left of it, anyway. Cracked stone, faint scorch marks, and a ring of guards where the water once shimmered. The Council’s banner fluttered above them, black and silver threads glinting. Whispers followed her. “Is that her?” “Vale’s girl?” “She was seen under the Red Moon.” Lyra kept walking, ignoring the sting of every stare. Her palms itched beneath her gloves, the faint glow under her skin refusing to fade. Even her heartbeat felt strange—slightly off, like the rhythm belonged to someone else. The Council’s summons had waited on her desk before dawn, carved in silver ink: Attendance required – Inquiry at first bell. She hadn’t needed to ask what it meant. *** Inside

The summons arrived at dusk. This time, it wasn’t a letter. A student messenger simply appeared at Lyra’s door, head bowed, voice trembling. “North Tower. At sunset. Bring nothing.”She barely had time to breathe before she was walking again — through the narrow, spiraling halls, past portraits whose painted eyes seemed to follow her. The North Tower was the oldest part of Blackthorne, built before the Academy had walls or rules. No one went there willingly. By the time she reached the door, the last light of day had faded.Malachai stood waiting.He looked almost spectral in the dying glow — white-blond hair catching the last strands of light, eyes like chipped ice. He didn’t greet her. He just turned and opened the door, motioning her inside.The room beyond was silent. Circular. Its walls were carved with runes that pulsed faintly under the torchlight. There were no weapons here, no desks — only an obsidian floor that mirrored the ceiling.” This is the Chamber of Focus,” Mal